US members of Congress visit detained Binance executive, Tigran Gambaryan in detention, call for release

Two members of the United States Congress, Representative French Hill (Republican) and Representative Chrissy Houlahan (Democrat) visited detained Binance executive and American citizen, Tigran Gambaryan at the Kuje Detention facility yesterday, June 19th 2024 and have called for his release in a social media post. posted a video on social media calling for his release.

According to Hill’s X post, the Representatives found out that Tigran is suffering from health implications as a result of the unpalatable conditions of the detention facility. He “has malaria and double pneumonia, and he reports that he has lost significant weight. Even worse, he’s being denied access to adequate medical attention.“

In a similar post on Representative Houlahan’s X handle, she corroborated Mr Hill’s report:

“We did find pretty difficult conditions… he was under clearly a lot of stress and his health is not very good.” She continued that she hopes “we will be able to put the full force of America behind us to make sure that he is returned home safely”, she claimed.

Both representatives jointly called for his immediate release so he can be reconciled with his family:

“Tigran has devoted his professional life to fighting money laundering and tax evasion, having spent ten years as an IRS Special Agent where he successfully led cyber and financial crime investigations. He must be immediately granted a humanitarian release, the remaining charges dropped, and he must return home to America where he belongs”, they asked of the Nigerian government.

Tigran Gambaryan sues NSA, EFCC for compensation

Recall that Tigran yesterday petitioned an Abuja Federal High Court to order the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) of Nigerian and its anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to pay compensation costs for his prolonged detention in the country.

Gambaryan claims his detention violated his rights and was used to pressure Binance, causing hardship to his family.

This was contained in a statement made before the court by his lawyer, Tonye Krukrubo SAN during a proceeding yesterday to determine judgement in a fundamental rights suit filed on behalf of escaped colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla at the same court. This follows an amendment to an original motion to enforce his fundamental human rights, which was filed in May.

The lawyer, therefore, urged the court to declare his detention and the seizure of his international travel passport as a violation of his fundamental right to personal liberty guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. He also asked the court to perpetually restrain the security agencies from further detaining him for any investigation into the activities of the cryptocurrency exchange platform.

The presiding judge adjourned the hearing on the case till June 19.

Read the details here: Detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan sues for compensation, wife asks for US intervention

Recall that the Federal High Court, yesterday, struck out a fundamental rights suit filed against the Office Of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by escapee Binance Executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla.

Presiding over the case, Justice Inyang Ekwo delivered a verdict on the suit after Anjarwalla’s legal team failed to appear during the proceedings. The judge emphasized that despite the case being scheduled for mention there was no representation for the applicant.

Tigran’s wife, Yuki Gambaryan speaks

Meanwhile, Tigran’s wife, Yuki Gambaryan has called on the government of the United States to intervene more forcefully in the lingering detention and prosecution.

“Tigrans and my tax dollars get sent to Nigeria in aid every year. Nigeria is supposed to be an ally. I refuse to believe that our State Department cannot do more to have an innocent American citizen released”, she said in a statement shared with Technext.

According to her, It is time for the Nigerian authorities to do the right thing and let her “innocent husband” go. “Since the FIRS charges were dropped last week and they agreed to serve those charges solely on Binance, I do not see why the EFCC cannot do the same”, she added.

Similar: Court strikes out escaped Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla’s fundamental rights suit